Industrial Tourism in Small and Medium-Sized Industrial Enterprises: Challenges and Opportunities

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.34190/ictr.8.1.3435

Keywords:

Industrial Tourism, small and medium-sized enterprises, challenges, opportunities

Abstract

This paper explores Industrial Tourism (IT) within Portuguese small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). It aims to identify the main challenges and opportunities of this tourism product and offers suggestions to enhance the sustainability and competitiveness of these organizations. This research seeks to understand the perspective of active industrial enterprises, or the "living industry," and how this type of tourism can enhance their sustainability and competitiveness. Primary data was collected through a questionnaire administered to 186 SMEs in Portugal. The findings show that most Portuguese SMEs do not engage in IT, mainly due to logistical, security, and strategic concerns. However, the study concludes that IT offers opportunities for SMEs to improve their marketing approaches, societal relationships, business strategies, and human resources.

Author Biographies

Zulmira Montenegro, Universidade Portucalense Infante D. Henrique

Zulmira Montenegro holds a PhD in Business Sciences and is a researcher at REMIT-Research in Economics, Management and Information Technologies (University Portucalense). With over 19 years of experience as an entrepreneur in Management Support Services, her research interests include the relation of Management, Tourism and Industry.

Jorge Marques, Universidade Portucalense Infante D. Henrique

Jorge Marques is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Tourism, Heritage and Culture of the University Portucalense Infante D. Henrique, in Porto, Portugal. He is also a researcher at REMIT-Research in Economics, Management and Information Technologies (University Portucalense) and CEGOT-Centre of Studies on Geography and Spatial Planning (University of Coimbra). His current research interests are in tourism development policies, destination management and planning, and hospitality management.

Cristina Sousa, Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (ISCTE )

Cristina Sousa is Assistant Professor and Director at the Department of Political Economy at Iscte – Instituto Universitario de Lisboa, where she is also the director of the Master in Environmental and Sustainability Studies. She is an integrated researcher at DINAMIA'CET - Iscte. Her research interests include innovation processes and their socio-economic effects; the dynamics of knowledge and innovation networks; entrepreneurship and new business models; and the transition to sustainable systems.

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Published

2025-04-14

Issue

Vol. 8 No. 1 (2025): Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Tourism Research

Section

Academic Papers

License

Copyright (c) 2025 International Conference on Tourism Research

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.